Chrono Crusade: The Beginning of the End
by MangetusProdigyPhoenix101
Summary: Somehow, Chrono survives and is forced do what he never thought he'd have to: live without Rosette, but love is just around the corner..set after the series ending, Chrono/OC Rated M for reasons people
1. Marionette

The house was quiet, except for the repetitive sound of the clock ticking.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

It only reminded her of what little time she had left before she'd have to leave for town and face the disgusted, wary faces of those in town. She had the power to slaughter them all, but she had no will to do it whatsoever. She was just so drained of her drive. Her life was simple and boring. Nothing interesting every happened, not that she hoped something would.

The book she was reading suddenly became uninteresting. She sighed and closed it, setting it down on the table. She looked at the clock once more and decided she had a time for an entry. She stood up, quietly moving the chair back and walked to the back of her house, entering her bedroom. It was still dark, being only about five in the morning, although she could see just fine. She easily found the desk sitting in the corner of the room, and sat down in the faded oak chair. She looked down at the notebook beneath her, noticing that the page was on the entry from yesterday. She stared down at it, noticing that the words were blurred in some places, where tears had fallen and blotched the ink. She slowly reached out, with clammy hands and turned the page, picking up the quill from the back of the desk, and began to write.

_The ticking of the clock only reminds me that I must return to town this morning, for I am in severe need of food and medical supplies, should I happen upon another case. The window above my bed is broken, because of some children from last night throwing rocks at it. It seems as though I will be getting very cold at night, for I am unable to repair it myself. I will need to hire Mr. Jenkins to fix it, although he is wary of me like the others. Never have I wished for the removal of this thing more._

_Sincerely,_

_Madeline Marionette_

She signed the page in cursive, keeping to her usual style of drawing a small heart over the I in both Madeline and Marionette. Slowly, she set the quill back into the ink pot and stood up. She exited her bedroom, ignoring the breeze that entered through the shattered window and stopped in the hallway. She opened the closet door, and pulled out her coat. It probably would be a little cold, or at least get that way. She pulled it on silently, running over the "rules" and such with herself in her mind. She entered the kitchen, grabbing the already prepared basket off the counter, and exited through the back door. She didn't bother locking the door and began her way to town.

* * *

She ignored the alienating, disgusted stares they were giving her and instead focused on getting the things she needed. She paused, seeing Mrs. Yama's stall of fresh fruit. She walked over to it, her sweet eyes looking over the apples, peaches, watermelons, and cherries in the stall. Mrs. Yama always had every single fruit there was, courtesy of Mrs. Jenkins.

"Give me six apples, four peaches, two watermelons and three cherries."

"Comin' right up." Mrs. Yama said, keeping her eyes on her as she bagged the requested fruit. She held out her hand for the required money and Madeline placed in her hand, avoiding skin contact as usual and then took the bag and moved on to Mrs. Jenkins stall.

Mrs. Jenkins sold meat and poultry, while Mr. Jenkins prepared it. Mrs. Jenkins looked her up and down like she was some suspicious stranger, as she looked over the fresh meat.

"Thanks, Mrs. Jenkins, but I have enough pork. Is Mr. Jenkins free today?"

"No. He actually left yesterday on a business trip."

"Oh, uh, thanks."

She quickly walked off, walking towards the stall where she could find medical supplies. Of course, the "vendor" wasn't there, so she walked in, gathered what she needed and quickly removed herself from the gazes of the townspeople. She walked quietly through the silent hills, her arms lightly swinging. It was autumn, and the trees were bare, and shivering. They softly whispered to her, reassuring her that those in town were unimportant. She sighed quietly, and took a seat underneath the only tree with its leaves: a willow tree. She came to the very spot everyday, at the same time; right after she went to town or six in the morning. It took her forty-five minutes to get to town and fifteen minutes to shop and reach the tree. She leaned on the welcoming bark of the tree, allowing herself to be safely wrapped up in the comfort of the privacy of the willow. No-one every came out here, but her of course. There was something about the liveliness of the trees that made everyone scared, everyone but a forgotten, female demon of course.

Madeline scooted forward, giving herself enough room to lay out on the grass and stare out at the now bright blue sky above. There were few clouds in the sky, and the breeze had vanished. Everything was peaceful as it always was. Something lingered in the air, though, warning her that something was coming. It didn't exactly give off the bad vibe, but it didn't exactly give off the good vibe either. She usually got these feelings the days she found a "case", which is just finding an injured demon. Demons, surprisingly enough, didn't arrive here too often. Although this place was within what is known as the Demon Realm, most of those in the town were humans, which was a reason she was often shunned and because she helped and cared for demons. She usually found them out here with Willow, the tree behind her.

Madeline pushed herself up and grabbed her basket, walking even further into the group of trees known as Black Grove. The world was quiet out here, and no-one ever bothered her out here. She felt truly at home out here, in the peace of the hearts of the trees. She looked into the north, observing the group of mountains known as Black Grove Pass, because of its closeness to Black Grove.

"I want to go there someday, to see the world beyond this town, beyond Black Grove, beyond the Pass. I want to find some place out there, and live in peace...live with someone I love, have children, and then die in the arms of my love after my kids have grown and had their own families."

She smiled to herself, thinking of having some human or demon for a husband, and having little Maddie's running around. Though she would never grow old, she would die eventually, right? Demons usually didn't die, but Madeline hoped for the day when it happened, when she would be able to pass happily in the arms of someone she loved.

She quietly came down from her high, and turned around, heading back to town. It was around Willow, that she found herself tripping over what she thought to be a pile of leaves. Slowly, she pushed herself up off the ground, brushing the dirt off her hands. She placed herself on her knees, observing the pile. It looked as though there was something underneath it. She lifted her head highly, looking closer on the far side of the pile. There was a tip of something black. There definitely was something under there. Slowly, she reached forward, brushing some leaves back and blinked, a soft blush coming to her cheeks.

There, lying on the soft ground, was the head of a demon, but a handsome demon. He had long dark purple hair, that looked soft and tempted her to run her fingers through it, and a peaceful expression on his features. His eyes were closed, and his lips were positioned in a soft smile. His long ears were flattened against his head as he slept and he looked almost human. _Almost_. She reached out, running a finger gingerly down the side of his face. There were so many beautiful and handsome demons out there..

Slowly, she uncovered him fully and stopped to look at him in full. His wings, large and black, were neatly folded behind him, the tips which she had seen, and his body, though large and strong, had several injuries across it. She brushed a scar, just above his hip, tracing it with ever-delicate fingers. He had a torn black cloak that looked more like a torn shirt, and he was mostly covered in armor. However, she was quickly reminded of his wounds as her eyes found the pool of crimson beneath his body. Although she was much farther from her home than she had expected, she knew she would be able to make it to her home in seconds if she used her demonic speed. She disliked her demon powers and tried not to use them, but in this case, someone would die if she didn't. She pulled him up from the ground carefully, struggling even with her demonic strength, and heaved his body onto her back, keeping her basket firm in hand. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and quickly zipped through the at least two miles of a journey in less than a minute.

* * *

She had spent at least a half an hour finding all of his wounds, and bandaging them, finding the wounds being the majority of the trouble. She tried her best not to strip him of his clothing (since that would be embarrassing to explain) but was forced to remove his jacket, and she had stripped him of his armor anyway. He was in a safe place after all; he had no need for armor.

It was within an hour, that she heard him awake. She was in the kitchen, fixing some soup for dinner, when she heard a loud groan. Mixing the soup in the pan once and then setting the spoon on the counter, she began her way to the back bedroom where he was. She dusted her hands off on the white apron as she walked, the pink and blue sky of the fading sun casting shadows into the small home and on half of her face as she entered the room. She had covered the window with a blanket, and stapled it into the wall, leaving the two candles in the room as being the only source of light, placed at his bed side. She pulled a chair up the side of the bed, capturing his attention. His eyes were half-open and he was barely able to keep them open, obviously tired.

"W-who.." His words were dragged out, "..a-are you.."

She smiled softly, "I'm Madeline."

"I—I'm...C-chrono.."  
"It's nice to meet you. For now, you need to rest. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"H-hungry.." His words continued to be slow, as he looked back up at the ceiling.

"I'll go grab you some soup, okay?"

She stood up, and entered the kitchen. She checked on the soup, stirred it once, and then pulled it off the burner. She poured him a bowl and then quickly walked back to him. She set the bowl on the night-stand, and then helped him sit up enough to eat, and then helped him eat.


	2. Dreams

_**A/N: Hello everyone. This is the second chapter. Just a shout-out to Shiloh since you weren't logged in/didn't have an account (whichever), this chapter will detail Madeline's appearance and I will correct mistakes in the first chapter as soon as possible. I'm glad you're my first reviewer! Everyone else, please read and review!**_

In the weeks that followed, Madeline cared for Chrono and his wounds, which he had no idea how he got. He explained that the last thing he had known, he was dead beside Rosette (a woman he had loved) on a porch swing. He had no memory of anything after that, leading up until he awoke in Madeline's cabin.

It was a quiet night at Madeline's home, and Chrono lay in bed, as he usually was, being cared for by Madeline. His wounds had barely begun to heal, despite him being a demon and he was still pretty tired. He found himself looking over at the female demon who had slaved for him, preparing food and caring for his wounds. Her hair was a midnight black and long, neatly braided behind her back, and the tips of her ears peeked out at him. Two triangular marks were on her forehead, their points together, and there were six red markings on her cheeks (three each). Around her neck she wore a white bandana, and Chrono's expert eyes spotted a hint of a scar behind the bandana. That evening, she was wearing a dark blue dress, with her usual white apron tied around her waist. She had a slender figure, and the dress did well for her figure too. But the one thing Chrono couldn't stop staring at was her face: its features were soft, and her eyes, a golden ember color, were the softest shade and looked gentle, as she re-bandaged his wounds. The way her face was framed by her hair and the tips of her demonic ears, made her look less of a demon and more like an angel.

"Chrono?" She questioned, snapping him out of his thoughts. He peeled his eyes from her ruby lips and to her ember eyes.

"Y-yes?"

He noticed the blush on her cheeks.

"W-what are you staring at?"

"Um..." He quickly looked away, "Nothing."

She quickly brushed it off, as she usually did. The time he had spent with her had introduced him to her habits, likes, dislikes, and things like that. She was a female demon, something that was rare, and she lived in this town, full of humans who shunned her because she was a demon, and often cared for demons she found in the Grove. He had learned that most of the food she baked or cooked, she had learned from an old woman who cared for her when she was much younger, that had died of old age. He also had learned that she liked lemon poppy-seed muffins, blueberry muffins, and strawberry shortcake while she disliked anything sour.

In the past weeks, he'd done a lot to repay her for her hospitality, fixing the bedroom window, cracks in the roof, and a table chair that broke when he sat in it (she laughed when it broke instead of getting mad which he didn't understand at all).

Sitting alone on the front porch of the log cabin, Madeline watched as the bright sun sank down behind the Pass. As always, her eyes were soft with kindness and love. Her skin was as pale as wax before the pink and orange rays fanned out across the sky like a blanket.

"Madeline?"

She turned and looked over at Chrono, her usual smile on her beautiful features. He slowly placed himself in the seat beside her on the porch swing, and the memory of being with Rosette flashed before his eyes for the smallest of moments.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Chrono asked, though he was looking at her. She smiled wider and nodded.

"Yes."

He looked away from her and to the sky.

"What's your dream, Madeline?"

She was obviously surprised by his question as she looked over at him with wide eyes, a "What?!" leaving her lips.

He kept his eyes on the beautiful sky.

"What's your dream? Your desire in life?"

She relaxed and smiled.

"I want love."

It was Chrono's turn to be surprised and he quickly turned to look at her.

"I want to fall in love with someone, and to have children. I want to find someplace out in the country where I can leave in peace, without persecution from others and without danger, have children of my own, and then die in the arms of someone I love after I have had grand-children and those children have grown."

"I see."


	3. NOTE

Greetings readers,

I would like to inform you that I am still working on this story, yes, and that I hope to update soon. I have had a serious writer's block with this story, but I _think_ might have just demolished that block! Anyway, please be patient and kind with me!

Sincerely,

Phoenix


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